Catalog Overview
The Catalog provides a centralized location to manage and reuse commonly used information across jobs in Buildertrend. By storing Cost Items, Cost Groups, Selections, and Specifications in one place, you can reduce repetitive data entry, maintain consistency, and streamline job setup.
The Catalog includes four tabs:
- Cost Items: Store standard pricing and item-specific details for use in estimating and costing workflows.
- Cost Groups: Combine multiple Cost Items to streamline estimating.
- Selections: Save and reuse commonly used selection options and allowances across jobs.
- Specs: Maintain a library of specifications that can be added individually to jobs.
To access the Catalog, navigate to Company Settings, then select Catalog from the Financials menu.
Using the Catalog
Cost Items and Cost Groups
Cost Items and Cost Groups work together to organize pricing and item-specific details for estimating and costing workflows.
Instead of repeatedly entering information such as Title, Description, Unit Cost, or Markup Amount, you can store these details in the Catalog for future use.
Cost Items and Cost Groups Help Video
Watch the video below to learn more about the Cost Items and Cost Groups.
Cost Codes serve as the foundation of Buildertrend's financial tools. While they don't contain pricing or item-specific details, they provide a consistent way to categorize costs across jobs.
Example: "5620 – Shower doors and mirrors"
Cost Items build on Cost Codes by storing specific details such as Title, Description, Unit Cost, or Markup Amount. Multiple Cost Items can be associated with a single Cost Code, allowing you to maintain a simple Cost Code structure while offering detailed pricing options.
Example: "Kohler Levity 59 in x 74 in. Semi-Frameless Sliding Shower Door with Handle" associated with Cost Code 5620 – Shower doors and mirrors.
Cost Groups bring multiple Cost Items together to streamline estimating. These groups are unique to each builder and are commonly organized by construction phase, room, floor, or priority.
Example: "01 – Preparation Preliminaries" containing all costs needed for this phase.
To create a new Cost Item or Cost Group, navigate to the corresponding tab within the Catalog in Company Settings, then select the New Cost Item or New Cost Group icon in the upper-right corner.
Saved Cost Items and Cost Groups can be used in the following features:
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Proposals
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Estimates
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Selections
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Change Orders
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Purchase Orders
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Bills
To add a saved Cost Item or Cost Group to a job, navigate to the desired feature and select the Book icon to browse and add items from the Catalog.
To edit an existing Cost Item or Cost Group in the Catalog, navigate to Company Settings → Catalog, select the appropriate tab, and choose the item or group you'd like to update.
If a Cost Item you're attempting to edit or delete is currently in use anywhere in Buildertrend, you'll see a list of where it's being used. You can choose if and where you'd like this Cost Item to update.
✏️ Note: Once added to a job, you can edit the Cost Item or Cost Group as needed. Changes made within the job will not affect the original item or group in the Catalog.
Selections
The Selections tab provides a centralized location to save, manage, and reuse commonly used selection options and allowances across jobs.
Rather than recreating selections for each project or relying on large job templates, you can maintain a library of frequently used options and add them to future jobs as needed.
To save a selection option to the Catalog, navigate to Selections within a job, select the ellipsis next to the desired option, then select Save to catalog.
List View
Gallery View
To save multiple selection options to the Catalog at once, use the checkboxes to select desired options, then select Save to catalog.
To add saved options to a job, navigate to Selections and select From catalog. From there, you can select one or multiple options to add to the job at once.
To manage saved selection options and allowances, navigate to Company Settings → Catalog → Selections. Select an individual Allowance or Option to view and edit its details.
To delete multiple entries at once, use the checkboxes to select the desired items and delete them in bulk.
✏️ Note: Once added to a job, you can edit the Selection as needed. Changes made within the job will not affect the original Selection in the Catalog. Likewise, changes made in the Catalog will not affect Selections already added to jobs.
Specs
The Specs tab provides a centralized library of specifications that can be saved and reused across jobs.
Rather than importing an entire Job Template and removing unnecessary specifications, you can select individual specifications from the Catalog and add only what's needed for a particular job.
To save a specification to the Catalog, navigate to Specifications within a job, select the ellipsis next to the desired specification, then select Save to catalog.
To save multiple specifications at once, use the checkboxes within the List View.
To add saved specifications to a job, navigate to Specifications and select the option to Add from catalog. From there, you can select one or multiple specifications to add to the job at once.
To manage saved specifications, navigate to Company Settings → Catalog → Specs.
Select an individual Specification to view and edit its details. To perform bulk actions, use the checkboxes to select multiple specifications and choose from the available actions.
✏️ Note: Once added to a job, you can edit the Specification as needed. Changes made within the job will not affect the original Specification in the Catalog. Likewise, changes made in the Catalog will not affect Specifications already added to jobs.
Interested in Learning More? 📚
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